Iran, Iraq in Joint Energy Cooperation

Iran and Iraq have stated a new round of discussions to promote cooperation in the energy field.

The talks were led by Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh and his visiting Iraqi counterpart Jabbar al-Luaibi in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Top on the agenda of their meeting included developing the oil fields that the two countries share, transferring Iraqi crude oil to Iranian refineries and returning byproducts to Iraq and exporting natural gas from Iran to Iraq’s Basra.

As stated by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), there are 23 joint hydrocarbon fields between Iran and Iraq. Most of those fields including Azar, Azadegan, and Yadavaran have major prospects.

The two countries are also working on a plan based on which crude oil would be piped from Iraq to Iran’s Tabriz and Kermanshah refineries. Iran would later return the byproducts obtained to Iraq.

Iran started a much-awaited project to export 7 to 8 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of natural gas to Iraq’s capital Baghdad in June. The exports are expected to reach as high as 35 mcm/d in the near future.

Iran and Iraq initially signed an agreement in 2013 based on which the Islamic Republic would export natural gas to power stations around Baghdad through a 270-kilometer pipeline.

Iran has also signed another contract to export around 50 mcm/d of gas to Iraq’s southern port city of Basra.

Once the Basra pipe is made operational, Iraq’s total gas imports from Iran would reach around 80 mcm/d.